Microsoft to cut 700 employees in next layoff round: Report

Microsoft is poised to lay off 700 people the week of January 22, according to a Business Insider report.

While Microsoft officials declined to comment on the report, I’ve heard from my contacts that it is correct.

The 700 employees who are in line to be let go this coming week — the same week Microsoft is reporting its fiscal 2017 second quarter earnings — are part of the group of 2,850 that Microsoft quietly disclosed would be cut last year.

A Microsoft 10-K filing in July last year noted that Microsoft would be cutting 2,850 additional positions globally during its fiscal 2017, which runs from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017. These jobs were in addition to the 1,850 that Microsoft announced in May 2016 that it planned to cut.

Like Business Insider, I’m hearing this week’s cuts will happen across organizations and functions, including sales. Microsoft recently reorganized and consolidated its sales and partner teams,

As of September 2016, Microsoft had 113,600 employees worldwide, with roughly 44 percent involved in engineering, and 43 percent in sales and marketing.